American seniors are sitting on a massive mountain of cash.

Low-interest rates, rising home prices, and vanishing inventory have contributed to all-time-high home equity, yet most of it sits untouched and forgotten.

NAIFA and White Glove have completed a marketing partnership agreement. The two organizations will work together to bring modern marketing practices to financial services professionals while raising awareness of the critical advocacy work that NAIFA undertakes at the state, interstate, and federal levels.  White Glove is a founding partner of NAIFA’s Business Performance Center that provides thought leadership to agents and advisors on practice management.

Ah, retirement. The reward at the end of years in the labor force, of saving and investing and planning for financially sound, restful, and even adventure-filled golden years. Millions of Americans enter retirement annually, but increased reliance on Social Security income and Covid-19’s impact on employment, access to social supports, and mental and physical health have altered the retirement experience for retirees across the U.S. With retiree numbers significantly increasing in the last year and predictions of more to come at an accelerated rate, we wanted to know if retirement still lives up to expectations. Are retirees experiencing the retirement they expected, or do they have regrets? 

NAIFA is pleased to announce that Flagship Financial, with offices in Sanatoga and Trappe, PA, has become a NAIFA 100% Agency. Under the membership program, Flagship Financial has enrolled all of its advisors as NAIFA members and enrolled them in NAIFA’s grassroots advocacy programs.

When do we meet? When I was first starting, that question was music to my ears. It means the prospect was comfortable enough with me that we could sit down in person and I could potentially close the sale. But time marched on and technology changed, meaning it was no longer necessary to make a sale in front of everyone I spoke with. And as the generations changed, the desire, no, the need to meet clients to make the sale eye to eye has diminished.

Steve Bergee, LACP is a managing partner with E4 Insurance Services in Fargo, ND and a loyal member since 2009. Shortly after joining the industry 15 years ago, Bergee joined NAIFA at the encouragement of a friend and colleague. He has been an active member ever since. His participation in NAIFA provides both validation from his peers and an opportunity to benefit from the relationships he has with his fellow NAIFA members. “This is an organization of the best-of-the-best within the industry,” says Bergee. “To be able to include yourself in that group and to be able to tap their ideas and converse with them I think is really the value in the organization.”

NAIFA has teamed up with White Glove to present the webinar series: Hyper-Growth in a Hybrid Environment, September 13- 17th.  Each day will focus on a strategy to support advisors in prospecting and marketing. 

Since my last column, we have had some successes with the COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, and some additional difficulties with new variants such as the delta variant. The available vaccines do appear to be effective against the delta variant, but inoculated persons can still become infected. Usually, they do not require hospitalization. In this light, advisors should continue to be careful and use virtual means of communication with clients (Zoom, MS Teams, etc.) as needed.

How confident are you in your employee classifications and the process you use to categorize them? Do you really understand the differences between exempt vs. non-exempt classifications when it comes to your white-collar employees?

As an emergency medicine physician for 20 years, including the past 12 years working in a large, level 1 trauma center, Dr. Monica Williams has seen innumerable patients and families facing long-term care challenges. As the Medical Director for Advance Care Planning and End of Life Education for the third-largest community-owned hospital system in the United States, she has spent a portion of her career talking to doctors about how they can have effective advanced medical planning and end-of-life conversations with patients and families.